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Schools Minister David Laws, who is scheduled to address members as the keynote speaker on July 11th at the Main Event in Birminham, has written to all school catering teams in England to thank them for their hard work in preparing for the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) in September.

He wrote: “As I am sure that you are all aware, the Government has decided that schools must offer a healthy free school lunch to all infant pupils in England from September this year. This is a vital and important change that will significantly improve children’s health and their attainment.

“I wanted to write to thank you personally for all your hard work in getting ready for this very significant policy.  Excellence does not come about through government decree: it is driven by great school leaders and by you, school cooks, who need to be given the right circumstances and the right culture in which to flourish.

“For some of you, the challenge of getting ready for September may seem daunting – getting your kitchens ready, recruiting new staff, increasing your meal numbers.

“But lots of help is available.  Do make sure you are in regular contact with your school leaders.”

He also referred to the new food based standards and accompanying guidance, specifically for school cooks and caterers.

“The new standards are designed to make it easier for school cooks to create imaginative, flexible and nutritious menus.

“From my many visits to schools, I can see at first hand the hard work you and your teams are already putting in to make sure that, come September, you will be ready.

“The introduction of universal infant free school meals in September presents a huge opportunity for us to put food back at the heart of our schools. I am very grateful to you for all you are doing, and will be doing over the next few months, to make it a reality.”

For help on UIFSM visit: www.schoolfoodplan.com/toolkit and www.schoolfoodplan.com.
For more on the new standards visit: www.schoolfoodplan.com/standards.